Etymology

ghost chili

Today it means: Synonym of bhut jolokia. Full definition →

as ভোট-জলকীয়া
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The story

  1. as · calque ofভোট-জলকীয়া
  2. English todayghost chili

Calque of Assamese ভোট-জলকীয়া (bhüt-zolokia, literally “Bhutanese chili”). The first element bhüt, meaning Bhutanese, was mistakenly confused for near-homonym ভূত (bhut) meaning ghost, thus producing the English (mis-)translation “ghost pepper”.

Words from the same roots

asভোট-জলকীয়া all →

bhut jolokiaghost chili pepperghost pepper

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.